July 2009

07/31/2009

Our function is simple: we put economies of scale to work for
independent producers. We provide services like technology and
bandwidth, workflow automation, distribution and business development.
We provide services like advertising sales. We do all of this in
exchange for a revenue share. We’ve embraced a radical new model. No
points on the production. No creative control. No contracts. You can
leave at any time if you find someone who can do it better.

I am a big big believer in not working for free. I hope Blip and those who partner with Blip can make a living.

07/28/2009

The Wall Street Journal reported today the story of Kenya Mejia, a real life valedictorian from Los Angeles who was paid by the marketers of the movie, I Love You Beth Cooper to pronounce her love for fellow classmate Jake Minor at the end of her speech.

Marketing executives for Twentieth Century Fox produced this stunt as part of a campaign to generate YouTube buzz before the opening weekend of the film.

The WSJ article does a great job of explaining how FOX, through a unit of Creative Arts Agency (CAA) found Kenya, got buy in from her and her parents and then filmed the speech with help from another company. Apparently school officials and the student body were unaware that they were players in the marketing effort.

There are a lot of ethical issues here:

Should school officials been told of what was happening?

Should Kenya have been paid for her efforts.

Should she have accepted. If I was graduating that day in Kenya's class I would have felt used.

Should her parents have let her do this.

Should personal release statements been signed for all the graduates that can be seen and heard in the video (they may have done this, but I doubt it).

Should we always be transparent in our marketing?

My thoughts (as a producer of video) lead to why didn't the video do better? As of this writing the video has only claimed about 2000 hits. Considering the effort and resources that FOX, CAA and the production company put in, why aren't they getting their eyeball's worth.

Here is the video:

My reasons as to why this didn't go viral:

The video starts too neatly, "To summarize it all..." I would have chosen to start earlier or later in the middle of a sentence ... (in media res) that's how the Greeks did it.

"I was recently watching the trailer for the upcoming movie...." This sounds fake. How's this: "I'm borrowing this idea from the new movie "I Love You Beth Cooper." (perhaps also making a joke about citing sources). Small point but it may have helped. By the way, Kenya's performance was spot on. They picked the right person.

There are five cuts in the video. This sets off my radar immediately. No one edits their graduation footage. It's a tip off that this is manufactured. I would have done it all in one take. Harder to pull off, for sure, but that's what it requires.

She also writes for a slew of online publications and has just published her first e-book, Keeping You and Your Content Out of Court which we'll get into later. As an industry expert, Daisy has been interviewed by CNN’s Showbiz Tonight, CNBC’s Closing Bell and G4’s Attack of the Show. She has also been interviewed by NPR and the Wall Street Journal. Not to forget, she is also the host of the podcast, This Week In Media.

Parlaying her knowledge and experience, Daisy has been consulting to organizations and companies on entering the the new media on-line space.

Here's her latest show:

Where is the best place to to upload your webisodes and why?

Daisy W: This varies widely depending on your business or brand. Sometimes it’s YouTube, sometimes your own site, sometimes a service like blip.tv, sometimes niche sites. It truly depends on the content, audience and release strategy. Generally, I advise posting to more than one place though so you have a better chance of being found. I picked blip because I know the founders, because they take care of me and their other producers, because they are always accessible and helpful and can solve all problems quickly. Also, many of the most popular episodic web content uses blip so that seemed a good fit.

If you're not on YouTube, why not (I did a youtube search for you and got some old new med. minute shows from long ago)?Daisy W: Um, I should be! I have a YouTube account and I admit sheepishly I need to be on there because I just did a New Media Minute on how every brand needs to be on YouTube, so I better follow my own advice and update my YouTube videos!

How did you go about finding sponsors for your shows?

Daisy W: One came as a result of an ongoing relationship with the CEO of the sponsoring company. I asked if he wanted to try a charter sponsorship with the New Media Minute and he was game, so we struck a deal over email in a day or two. The second sponsor is also a company I know well and follow. The marketing director approached me at NAB and we talked more and I put her in touch with NATPE, my presenting partner which now sells the ads for me in the New Media Minute.

Do you use a teleprompter? If you don't, then you're amazing. Even if you do use one - you're still amazing. Very natural. Any secrets?

Daisy W: Thank you. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t! It depends. Originally I did not and just memorized each script. Then I had access to a prompter and loved not memorizing. Now I have found that I actually prefer simply writing the script, reading it a few times and then going off memory, rather than a strict memorization. It makes it more natural, I think. I feel comfortable with this “technique” now because I’ve been hosting the audio podcast This Week in Media for more than a year and because I speak frequently at conferences and these opportunities have helped me hone my ability to “riff” so to speak and just talk without a prompter.Tell me a little about your new E-Book. How did you happen on this subject matter? What will buyers of the book find that's important to making video on the web?

Daisy W: I wrote an e-book on fair use of online video and other internet content because I received numerous emails from creators wanting specifics on how to adhere to fair use guidelines. My hope with the ebook (daisywhitney.com/ebooks) is that media producers can learn for $15 the basics of how to avoid getting sued for violating fair use and NOT have to pay lawyer fees!

Your work flow for your New Media Minute... Do you have ideas stored away or take it week by week. Do you have a crew helping with shoot and edit?

Daisy W: My husband shoots and edits the show. I usually save ideas and batch shoot 2-3 at a time for efficiency reasons. If I am at an event, I do a “live to tape” version and run the next day. Otherwise they are usually shot a week or so before they air.

Video is impactful. But many times I'd like to link to some of the stuff you talk about in your pieces (that piece of YA writers for instance). Do you feel like there should be some interactivity within web video? I'm a big fan of youtube annotations but of course you're stuck in a youtube world.

Daisy W: Yes, interactivity and links are good things in Web video.Posting a weekly show is grueling. But what has it done for your career?

Daisy W: It is grueling! But it’s done a few things. It’s become a revenue stream! And it’s also helped me finetune my presentation skills, reach new audiences, win new clients, earn speaking engagements, and become an important voice in the new media world. I’m delighted that media executives and indie producers alike find it valuable. A talent agent once actually thanked me for doing the show and said he found it informative and useful every week – that’s why it’s worth doing.

You consult companies on their online video branding. Should companies think like you do in terms of creating a sustained series or should they call the perlorian brothers and get some eyeballs by making insanely funny viral video that speaks to their unique selling proposition?

Daisy W: It totally depends on the company or brand! Making video needs to be tailored to your company and your brand and it could be a series or a viral video. But a viral hit is tough so I generally advise aiming to build a sustained and targeted audience over time with ongoing videos germane to your area of expertise.

Where do you see New Media Minute going in 2010?

Daisy W: I hope it continues to be a profitable show for NATPE and me and that I can break stories, provide analysis and help educate media execs and producers.

Thanks Daisy!

My favorite line that she said was this one about her paid advertising on her programming, "I asked if he wanted to try a charter sponsorship with the New Media Minute and he was game." It's a good lesson to remember: if you don't ask, you don't get!

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07/20/2009

With Walter Cronkite passing just three days ago, this is a perfect time to start the dialog to re-invent network and local news.

The days when we have anyone close to one person being the most "trusted man in America" are long gone.

Finding someone intelligent, witty, who can stand up to the tiresome spin of partisan politics seems to be what is needed at the current moment in time (look at how young people today feel that Jon Stewart is increasingly becoming a trusted news source).

We don’t need three evening newscasts exactly alike except as a
repository for erectile dysfunction commercials. So let one or two
networks win the ratings. Let CBS put more resources into
investigations on 60 Minutes. Let CNN cover breaking news — with more
help from witnesses with cameras. I hope they let others take that news
and curate it in different ways with different perspectives. There’ll
be a new ecology of news on video and it’s about time.

A new ecology of news on video. What would those 22 minutes look like:

Forget headlines. Anyone with a radio or web browser has already heard it and seen it so don't spend a lot of time on it.

Put the Big Story in perspective. I'd rather know a lot about one story then headlines of seven stories. Be meta like The Daily Show and look at how the political parties and corporations are spinning things. Report the news behind the news. Isn't that the juicy part?

Try the CNN approach (a round table of experts but don't call yourself the "Best Political Team on Television"). Have the panel editorialize the news that permeates press conferences, announcements, and pretty much everything that happens in the senate (or so it seems). Paul Begala, Jeffrey Toobin and David Gergen do a good job of this. Have interesting people comment on the tape that was just produced. Invite the producer of the five minute documentary to sit in. Ask an artist to be on the panel. A teacher. Let's hear from different voices. Three and 1/2 minutes of commentary for each of the above segments. CNN loves this because it's inexpensive to produce. It will be inexpensive here too but hopefully without the political punditry.

Four minutes left. We need to see some personality here. Think about what Seth Godin does every day. He delivers a pithy three paragraph non-political nut of wisdom that makes you think. Bill Mahrer does the same thing but usually in the political realm.

07/08/2009

If you're a follower of this blog, you know my taste in movies. I've searched YouTube for some interesting interviews on film makers and how they think. Here's the best of them:Stanley Kubrick

This short six minute clip of a longer piece focuses on Kubrick's early years as a bad school student (except for science). Instead of a school student, he became a student of photography - from taking pictures to selling them. I like his explanation of coming up with a generalized approach to "problem solving" as a way to help you in any thing.

Orson Welles

It would be great to see the entire interview of this. "Friendship is more important than art," remember that the great Orson said that.

Here's another Orson clip where I can't tell if he really believes what he's saying.Love that extreme close up.

Hitchcock - Form vs. Content

"What is in a film that makes an audience go through these various emotions," asks Hitchcock in this clip. It's not the content of the story. It's his technique of the subjective camera.

Francis Ford Coppola on The Conversation

Coppola considers The Conversation to be his best. Rent it if you haven't seen it. It's a million miles away from The Godfather.

The Late Bob Fosse

Rare interview of this theater film double threat. Any frame from any one of his movies is more inspiring than this interview, but it is good to see him in the flesh. You wanna say, "Put out the cigarette, Mr. Fosse." Unintentional funny: that last musical out-tro.

Charlie Kaufman

Writer of Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and now director with his latest movie Synecdoche, New York.He's got to have one of the most creative minds out there.I like what he says about our culture only accepting one kind of narrative arc. He ends with, "Be diligent and some what courageous."

Woody Allen May 2008 Interview

In this interview from Time.com, Allen gives a great performance. Answer #2 is a home run.

Otto Preminger From 1972

"It would be wrong for me to tell you what to think." That's the essence of his film making style in a handful of words.

Ridley Scott On Creating A Convincing Universe

Sounds simple to say but what separates a dull genre picture into something more: good art direction choices.

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